Officials in Montreal have vowed to mend ties with some of the
Canadian city's ethnic communities after a riot was triggered by
the fatal police shooting of a teenager.

An angry crowd of men and women burned vehicles, looted more than a
dozen stores and vandalised a fire station late on Sunday as more than
500 riot police moved in to restore calm in the predominantly Haitian
neighbourhood.

Ian Lafreniere, a Montreal police spokesman, said one police
officer was hospitalised after being shot in the leg during the riot in
Montreal North.

Six people were arrested for the fracas, the second time in four
months the city has seen a large-scale riot.

The violence erupted 24 hours after the shooting incident on
Saturday night involving three unarmed people, including Freddy Albert
Villanueva, 18, who died of his wounds.

Yvan Delorme, Montreal's police chief, said he was prepared to
do whatever it took to mend the shaky relations between police and the
community.

"We're there to listen, to understand what happened [on
Sunday] night and to avoid these kinds of situations," he said on
Monday.

"We have to feel safe in Montreal."

City police said officers were trying to arrest an individual in a
park late on Saturday when they were surrounded by a group of about 20
youths.

Police said one of the officers opened fire when some individuals
allegedly broke away and rushed at them.

Speedy probe promised

Montreal city officials have promised a speedy probe into the
shooting, which is being investigated by Quebec provincial police.

Gerald Tremblay, the city mayor, said "we have to do better
than what we've been doing".

He added that he was planning to meet community leaders to prevent
further violence. According to census data a quarter of Montreal North
residents are immigrants with almost 15 per cent blacks and 3.5 per cent
Latinos.

In April, a downtown celebration after the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins in a National Hockey League playoff game turned violent when people began torching police cars and looting
stores.

Police arrested 56 people in connection with that incident.

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